


Ice 'Em

by DetectiveCrimson



Series: Pencember 2020 [2]
Category: DCU, Original Work
Genre: Light Angst, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28057137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveCrimson/pseuds/DetectiveCrimson
Summary: Ruth's married father is tired of paying the demands her mother is making to keep his affair and children secret, in true politician fashion, he sends someone else to take care of the issue.Luckily, one of the hitmen has a conscience.[Pencember Challenge Day 02 - Prompt; Ice Sculpture]
Series: Pencember 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037226





	Ice 'Em

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short one-shot for a challenge my writing group—only two members including myself, feel free to apply—came up with called Pencember, its basically Inktober but writing.
> 
> If you want to take part, you can find the prompt list here -> http://aminoapps.com/p/845jwp <-  
> That said, if you do take part, let me know so I can read your works!  
> ____________________________________________________
> 
> This is really late, I know, but in my defense, I have been keeping up with the *writing* portion of the challenge, just not posting lmao, I've been playing games, I have no real defense, don't judge me.  
> ____________________________________________________
> 
> This one-shot follows one of my DC Comics villains, Ruth South, and briefly mentions her siblings who are also categorized as villains. (Ruth is a villain of opportunity, Rannie is a robin hood-like thief, and Raylene is a stone cold villain.)  
> Another character, Seth Young, who is Ruth's mentor, makes an appearance, as this is kind of a recounting of how they met.  
> {I might expand on the story in the future if people want me to.}  
> That said, I'll stop keeping you, please enjoy!  
> ____________________________________________________

The South family was many things-  
Strict, cunning, unforgiving-  
What they weren't, were kind.  
The youngest of the South siblings, Ruth, couldn't remember a time when their mother had been gentle, a time she had smiled and extended an understanding hand.  
All the triplets were to her were a means, a paycheck to blackmail their father.  
But it was fine, *Ruth* was fine, she had a verbally and physically abusive mother, and she had never known her father, who seemed just as bad, but she was *alive,* and that was more than a lot of kids had, she had no right to complain, her mother had made sure to drill that particular lesson in her head.  
Was she happy?  
Of course not.  
But she would survive, that was who she was.  
Or so she had thought.

The day it all came crashing down, finally came.   
Their father had grown tired of paying off the woman's demands, and had hired people to 'discreetly fix the problem.  
'If breaking down their front door was 'discreet.'  
It was the oldest of the three that came up with a way out.

She had broken the lock on their window using a heavy vase and had proceeded to help Ruth and Rannie down the fire escape, before the hired hit-men could get them, ignoring the sound of their mother's screaming, as cruel and cold as it may have been, even to a woman as evil as she.   
The oldest of the three, Raylene, had always been the one that kept them together, kept them strong, it was only fitting she be the one that tore them apart.  
When she realized the hit men were giving chase, she suggested the three split up.  
They had decided to meet up at the one place they were allowed to visit, a small corner drug-store.   
It took both Raylene and Ruth to convince their brother to go through with it.  
Ruth wasn't only the youngest, but she was also the smallest.   
But what she lacked in physique, she made up for with mind.  
She knew she wouldn't be capable of outrunning grown men, they were faster.  
So she resorted to outmaneuvering them, ducking behind dumpsters for cover and creeping near the walls.  
Time passed, the girl last track of how long she had been running, it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes.

She popped her head around the corner and released a shaky breath, relieved to find she was no longer being chased.   
She stepped away from the wall, glancing around frantically when she didn't know where she was.  
Before she could stumble towards one of the few people walking the streets and ask for directions, a hand shot out from behind her, clasping over her mouth and tugging her back into the alley.  
The flash of steel had her tensing as her attacker brought the knife to her neck.  
"It'll all be over soon," a gravelly voice promised, hushing her in a mockery attempt to calm her down.

It was when the blade pressed against her skin that she thought of all the times her mother had her in similar positions, all the times she was scared and Raylene would do something to take their mother's attention, or Rannie would risk a beating by making faces to cheer up, to get her through it.   
But they weren't there to help her, and that realization made her frozen body thrash against her captor, made her scream against his hand.  
And then it stopped, the warm presence he omitted cooled over, and she watched in broken shock as the hand over her mouth froze.  
She found herself stuck but otherwise not affected by the change.

"Now, that seems complicated."  
She began screaming again as she recognized the other man as another one of the attackers, yet he seemed unperturbed.  
"Let me get that," he reached a gloved hand out, grabbing the frozen one over her mouth and shattering it off.  
When she fell forward, he caught her, easing her to the ground.  
"You alright now?" He questioned, the reality of the situation hitting her as she shook in his arms.  
"I'm not going to hurt you," he assured as he unwrapped a scarf from his neck and pressed it carefully to the cut on her neck.

"You don't wanna kill me?..."  
"No, I didn't take the job to kill kids, no one told me there'd be kids."  
She eyed the gun strapped under his jacket as he spoke, finding that she was less afraid of it than she had been a knife, or perhaps, it was the person who had it that made her feel safer.  
"Sorry, I shot your mom."  
"S'okay..."  
"What happened to the other two?"  
"Dunno..."  
"I'll help you find 'em."  
"What 'bout him?"

The man looked back to the frozen statue near them, before pushing her away gently and making sure she was holding the cloth.   
He stepped towards the statue, stepping back before lifting his leg and kicking the frozen man in the chest, the statue shattering into bloody chunks."Problem solved."

The man took the girl to her meeting spot, carrying her so she didn't have to continue on the rough cold concrete, her shoeless feet red and sore from the running she had done.   
Despite not feeling the cold, she found herself burying herself into his jacket.  
The two waited for hours, but neither Raylene nor Rainne had shown, the longer it took, the number she felt.  
It was when the sun started peaking that the man sighed in resignation, finally speaking, "Come on kiddo, let's take you somewhere safe to rest, I'll see if I can find 'em for you."  
"They would have been here by now..." She mumbled into his collar.  
"Maybe they got held up, hm?" He suggested a strained smile slipping to his face.  
"You'll look for them?"  
"'Course, but first, let's get you somewhere safe, okay?"  
While they walked, they exchanged names, his was Seth.

He brought her to a sparsely decorated apartment, made sure she had blankets, food, and clothes to change into, though his clothes practically consumed her, they were warmer and more comfortable than her rags. He left after setting her up, shortly after, she fell asleep.  
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she woke to him returning, a forlorn expression on his pale face.

Days passed, he would leave every day to ask his 'contacts,' but each day he found neither child. It was, surprisingly enough, Ruth who gave up first, whatever had come to pass, Ruth knew better than to dwell on, Raylene would have said as much herself.  
It took longer for Seth to give up, he felt guilty that the two were missing, perhaps even dead.  
But despite 'moving on,' he kept his ear to the ground.  
And if the triplets' father was displayed in a populated area dead and encased in ice, that was no one's business but Seth's.


End file.
